historical perspectives: from the hasmoneans to bar kokhba in light ...

"[T]HE[Y] DID NOT READ IN THE SEALED BOOK" 111
in Qimron's translation: "we have written to you so that you may
study (carefully) the book of Moses" (C 73). 18
Moreover, according to the Temple Scroll 56:3—4 halakhic decisions
should be drawn on the basis of this source exclusively:
they will tell you from the book of the Torah and will tell you
truly"). 19 It is appropriate to recall here Yadin's persuasive observation,
that the changes made here by the author of the Temple Scroll
to the Masoretic text of Deut. 17:8—13 (especially the addition of
the words were aimed at emphasizing the importance
of establishing halakha on the written text of the Torah alone, thus
excluding the 'tradition of the fathers' as a legitimate halakhic source. 20
All this was accompanied by a clear tendency to religious stringency.
The author of the Pesher on Psalms accuses the sect's opponents
of choosing a worthless and easy way of religious life:
21
A similar accusation is expressed by the author of the Damascus
Document: that is, they chose the good life. 22 The
tendency to religious stringency is clearly apparent in 4QMMT; as
Sussman observed, all the laws in this halakhic document display a
rigorous approach to the halakha. 23
("And you shall do according to the instructions which
18 See E. Qimron and J. Strugnell, eds., Qumran Cave 4.V. Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-
Torah, DJD 10 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994), 58. "The expression denotes
here careful study of a written text" (DJD 10.59, note to line 10 [emphasis mine]).
Cf. M. J. Bernstein, "The Employment and Interpretation of Scripture in 4QMMT:
Preliminary Observations," in Reading 4QMMT: New Perspectives on Qumran Law and
History, ed. J. Kampen and M. J. Bernstein, SBLSym 2 (Atlanta: Scholars Press,
1996), 49-50.
19 See Y. Yadin, The Temple Scroll, 251, notes to lines 3—4; E. Qimron, The Temple
Scroll: A Critical Edition with Extensive Reconstructions (Beer Sheva: Ben Gurion University
of the Negev Press and Jerusalem: Israel Exploration Society, 1996), 81.
20 See Yadin, Temple Scroll; M. Kister, "Marginalia Qumranica," Tarbiz 57 (1988):
315-16 (Hebrew).
21 See J. M. Allegro, ed., Qumran Cave 4.I (4Q158-4Q186) (DJD 5; Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1968), 43; D. Flusser, "Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes in Pesher
Nahum," in Essays in Jewish History and Philology in Memory of Gedaliahu Alon, ed.
M. Dorman, S. Safrai, and M. Stern (Tel Aviv: ha-Kibbutz ha-Meuchad, 1970), 160-61
(Hebrew).
22 See E. Eshel, "4Q477: The Rebukes by the Overseer," JJS 45 (1994): 118,
note to line 9.
23 See J. Sussman, "The History of the Halakha and the Dead Sea Scrolls:
Preliminary Observations on Miqsat Ma'ase Ha-Torah (4QMMT)," Tarbiz 59 (1990):
27, 30, 33-35, 64-65 (Hebrew).